From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
I recently enjoyed your presentation on Time Span at a Vistage meeting. I'm curious about your thoughts on the success of Stratum I or II Sales or Account Execs selling to Stratum III or IV buyers?

Response:
Time Span helps us measure all kinds of things including matching people in the sales process. Here is a (very) raw rule of thumb in the sales process.

• Stratum I - Order Taking, matching features and benefits customer needs, very trainable.
• Stratum II - Relationship building, for those sales where there is risk in the selection of a vendor, where the selection criteria may rest in trust, integrity, reliability. Often the Time Span associated with this sales cycle is longer than three months.
• Stratum III - Engineered solutions. Where the criteria for vendor selection may not be apparent or may require some analysis. This analysis may start with a customer needs assessment to determine the precise nature of the problem, then perhaps testing to determine if the solution is viable.
• Stratum IV - Integrated solutions. Where the selected solution not only impacts the specific problem, but will also impact other systems surrounding the problem. This is the world of unintended consequences that must be explored.

It is easy to see each of these levels when we think about Time Span. Now, pit a Stratum I salesperson with a Stratum IV buyer and you can see the mismatch from the get-go. They speak a different language, use different buying criteria and may appear not to like each other. Sales consultants would lead you down the road of personality testing to resolve this conflict, or suggest that the conversation start around a fishing trophy on the wall of the customer. Both are ineffective strategies.

Matching the Time Span of the salesperson with the Time Span of the customer (buyer) makes for a more productive conversation, a more effective selling process.

We had a comment posted yesterday that I thought was particularly insightful.

Michael Cardus, of Create Learning wrote:

This is a game we all play games within our workplace, we are programmed to play these work games.

"We cannot promise future employment" creates a counter-play. The organization plays the same game with employees, "things are not good, layoffs are happening all around you and the executives have had secret meeting at expensive resorts, and we cannot guarantee you will have a job tomorrow. BUT we still want you to work hard and get the job done."

What is one supposed to do?

Response:
The reality is tough. It's tough because of the uncertainty. And because of the uncertainty, we try to cope as best we can. Game playing is a coping mechanism that we think is helping, protecting and delaying. In reality, it just creates a bigger game.

What is one supposed to do?

Pat Murray talks about being straight and sensitive. I don't see any other way.

"My logic is easy to see, but if I point out that they are wrong, it seems they cling to their ideas even stronger," Roy's words rang in his ears.

"When you are faced with a rather difficult problem, where the answer isn't so obvious, have you ever kicked the can around in your head, deciding one thing, only to change your mind in the very next minute?" I asked.

Roy smiled. "Well, yes, sometimes you have to think about something and you change your mind, from one side to the other."

"And it happens pretty easily, in your own head, to change your mind?" I added.

"Well, yes," Roy agreed. "So, what's your point?"

"If it is relatively easy to change our minds, why is it so difficult for your team to change their minds, when you tell them they are wrong?"

"They just don't listen," Roy complained. "You would think they would have some respect. After all, I have been doing this job for more that 15 years."

"It's because they have a dot," I replied.

"What do you mean they have a dot?"

"A dot. Everybody has a dot. Your team members, each, have a dot. You have a dot. Only your dot doesn't match their dot."

Roy was quick. "Okay, but if their dot is wrong, why don't they listen to me?"

"I don't know, why do you think?"

Roy was ready for bear. That's a Texas expression that means Roy wanted to argue. And he was perfectly willing to go first. "Sometimes, I think they are just pig-headed, stubborn. My logic is easy to see, but if I point out they are wrong, it seems they cling to their ideas even harder."

"Imagine that," I pondered out loud.

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January 26 - Orientation
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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
How can you help someone improve on their writing skills? We use form letters most often in correspondence and there are not a lot of opportunities to write a letter/memo. Do you have any tips on how I as a manager could assist my direct report? (Aside from taking courses, etc.)

Response:
My best recommendation is practice. I would assign short exercises (3-4 sentences in length) on a periodic basis (1-2x per week) and then spend short coaching sessions (10 minutes) reviewing the exercise. My assignments would be verbal expecting a 3-4 sentence written response.

Before you get started, you will need to sit with this person and define the purpose for the weekly exercise. "We need to work on improving your writing skills so you can be more effective in your role. We are not going to beat a dead horse, but we are going to work on short improvement exercises, where there is no risk. As time goes by, we will shift from exercises to the real writing that our customers (or others) read."

Using exercises in the beginning allows you to establish a performance improvement program without judging "bad work." Understand, in the exercises, you are definitely judging, as a manager, the writing performance, but it moves the focus from "bad work" to "improvement" in a non-lethal environment.

It does make some sense, early on in the coaching, to ask "How is what we talked about today, influencing your real written communication with customers?"

Let me know how it goes. -TF